Trials of the Heart
by aroseisarose
Summary: New Year's angst for Catherine. C/G romance R&R!!!! GRAND FINALE!
1. Part One

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI: or anything pertaining to it.

Author's note: Please review; I love getting them.

The last thing that Catherine remembered doing that New Years Eve night before the impact was throwing her arm across Lindsay, sitting in the passenger seat. The car was coming through the red light at a high rate of speed. Catherine closed her eyes and heard the crash of metal on metal as the sports car rammed her Tahoe. Before she knew it, the SUV rolled over and came to a stop on the roof after rolling over twice. Catherine heard the car that did it speed off, leaving her and her daughter to fend for their selves.

Catherine didn't hear anything. She wanted desperately to her Lindsay cry, or something. Looking over she saw her darling baby girl; her head loose like a rag doll's, blood pouring out from several glass-strewn cuts. Reaching over she checked to see if her daughter had a pulse. She found that Lindsay had one, but it was very weak and thready. 

With her instincts kicking in, Catherine reached for her cell and dialed 911.

"This is 911 dispatch, what is you emergency?" a young woman answered

"My SUV got hit and rolled over. My daughter has a severe head injury, she still has a pulse, but its weak."

"Where are you located?"

"The intersection of Richmond and the Strip."

"We'll be right there, ma'am."

With that the dispatcher hung up. Catherine, hanging upside down, checked herself over. 

**Why did it have to hit her side? Why not mine? Why am I fine, and she have a head injury?**

The fire, police, and medics pulled up moments later.

A young male medic ran up to the car with two backboards.

"Ma'am, ma'am can you hear me?"

"Yes, but get her first!"

"My partner is coming right now to help her. Now are you hurt?"

"No, no, the car didn't hit my side, it hit my daughter's." Catherine replied getting more and more hysterical

"Can you get out?"

"Yeah."

Catherine undid her seatbelt and fell to the roof of the car. Slowly she got out of the smashed window. The medic who was helping Lindsay got her on to gurney the backboard below her frail and pale body, gave a look to her partner. Catherine was in hysterics, so she didn't notice it, but the guy treating her did. The look of 'this is not good at all.'

"Ma'am, I have to put this brace on you neck now." He said keeping his deep voice calm. 

Catherine just nodded and the medic placed the plastic collar around her neck. Her eyes were on Lindsay as they were putting her into the ambulance.

"Can… can I go with her to the hospital?"

"Of course you can."

The medic helped Catherine into the rig, and ran to the driver's side door. For Catherine the rest of the night became blurry. The ride, the ER, the waiting, it all seemed like some surreal movie to her. She had fallen away from the Faith for a long time now, but that night in the ER, she prayed like she had never prayed before.

Early the next morning, Catherine was waiting outside of surgery for news on her daughter. While she was asking a nurse to get her a cup of coffee, Gil came in the waiting area. He slowly came up to her.

"Catherine?" Gil whispered

Catherine registered the voice, and when she did, a small wave of comfort washed over her. Turning around she fell into Gil's strong shoulders and started to cry.  After he had wrapped his arms around her, he gently guided Catherine back to the chair she was sitting in.

"I heard what happened. Is there any news about Lindsay?"

"No…they won't tell me anything." She managed to say through her streaming tears

"They found the guy who did this to you and her. He was driving around Vegas with the front of his car bashed in."

"That's really good. I hope that rots in jail, never sees the light of day, and then burns."

"The guy driving was Eddie."  
  



	2. Part Two

Catherine stopped sobbing with shock.

"Where is that lowdown scum ball of an ex-husband!"

"Catherine, calm down, please."

"He, he hit our car, left us to fend for ourselves, and now Lindsay is under the knife! The nurses won't tell me anything and for all I know I may never see her again! How can I calm down?!"

"Lindsay needs you here. Going to see Eddie is going to make the situation worse. When they brought him in, his BAC was over three times the legal limit. Catherine he's drunk. Fighting with him now puts you in to much danger."

Catherine started to cry again, but this time much softer, much more of a personal cry. Gil pulled her head into his chest and let her cry her tears. He rocked her back and forth, not knowing what else to do. They stayed like that even after the nurse had brought the coffee for them. By the time Catherine had cried all the tears that she could have possibly cried; she got up from Gil to make a phone call.

Three hours after Gil had come, the doctor came out to talk to Catherine about Lindsay. 

"Ms. Willows?"

"Yes?"

"I'm Dr. Patricia Edina, I worked on your daughter."

"Is everything alright?"

"We managed to fix what we could, but it's now up to her body to do the rest of the repair."

"What does that mean?"

"There is only so much that medicine to do. The body is the great physician Ms. Willows. She needs to do the rest now."

"Can I see her?"

"She is still in a comatose state, and will most likely be for a while more. There will be tubes going in her mouth to help her breathe. Also several IV's will be in delivering various types of meds."

"Gil, will you come with me?"

"His he her father?"

"Yeah, he is." Catherine said, throwing Gil a look. He kept a calm façade, but inwardly he started to panic a bit. 

**Is it possible that she was telling the truth?  Maybe she was just saying this so that I can be there with her.  That has to be it! She is Eddie's, she has to be Eddie's!**

The kindly surgeon led Catherine and Gil into the ICU where Lindsay was laying morbidly still. 

"She's so pale." Catherine whispered  

"Well, she just had major surgery, Catherine." Gil reassured her

"I guess you're right. Doctor?"

"Yes, Ms. Willows?"

"Can I touch her? I mean she looks so fragile."

"I think that it would be a very good idea. Children thrive off of that sort of thing. So long as you aren't planning to wrestle with her, its 100% fine."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome."

The doctor walked off leaving Gil and Catherine by Lindsay's side.

"Gil, you really should go home. You've been up for 24 hours now, haven't you?"

"It's fine. This is more important."

"Gil?"

"Tell me she'll pull through."

"Catherine Rachel Willows, Lindsay will pull through. She'll grow up, fall in love, get married, have children and live happily ever after. She's a trooper, just like you."

"I'm not a trooper Gil."

All of a sudden the machine that monitored Lindsay's breathing started it's shrill warning beeping…


	3. Part Three

Catherine couldn't move. Her legs turned to jelly, but her feet into cement. She knew that she had to go and get the doctor, the nurses, anyone to help Lindsay. Her body was in all protest to that thought.

**Please not now, not this way. Please I can't live without her!** Catherine silently pleaded

Gil ran as fast as he could out of the room to go and get the team that has seen Lindsay through her surgery. Half way down the corridor he was met by the team, bring a crash cart with them, and then followed them back into where Lindsay lay.

When the doctor got there, she immediately started to work on the young patient in her care. Gil went over to Catherine and held her. Catherine couldn't push the idea that this might be the end, and there was nothing that she could to do save the child who had made her change her life around and become a better person. Gil just held on tight to her, her trembling becoming his.

"Ma'am, we need you to step out of the room." 

"I need to stay with her! You don't understand."

The nurse gave Grissom a look telling him to take her out of the room.

"Let's give them some room to work, Catherine." Gil said, gently turning her toward the door. 

Once outside of the tiny, sterile room, Catherine leaned against the wall, slowly sinking down it. She could hear the doctors yelling, rapid footsteps, and the defibulator shocking her daughter's heart. Each and every sound was a sensory overload, and Catherine didn't know how much more she could take.

"Gil?"

"Yeah?" he asked, getting down on his knees to be at her level

"Hold me, please" she asked, but it sounded more like a plea than a request.

Gil took her in his arms, and they sat like that in the hall for what seemed to them to be a mini eternity. 

**Am I being selfish turning to him now? She doesn't have any comfort, and here I am, in the arms of the man that I truly have loved since that night I saw him.**

After a long bit, the doctor came out, blood streaked across her blue gown. Catherine tried to get up to meet her, but found herself to drained to even do that simple task.  Instead, the kindly doctor got down to her.

"Mr. and Ms. Willows, we got your daughter back. However, there is the possibility that some damage might have been done."

"What kind of damage?" Catherine asked

"Most likely hearing loss. We need you both to go down to the blood bank to give blood to be tested for her."

"Sure, if it will help."

"I'm going to get you a wheelchair. Is that okay?"

"Yeah…"she mumbled back

The doctor walked off down the hall, leaving Gil and Catherine.

"Catherine, we can do this. I'm going to get you through this."

"I don't deserve it, Gil."

"Catherine, have I ever let you down before?"

Catherine just shook her head like a small child does, meekly, slowly.

"And I don't intend to start today."

The doctor returned with the wheelchair.

"Let me help you up Ms. Willows."

Both Gil and the doctor grabbed an arm of Catherine's and got her to her feet. Gil then wrapped his arm around her waist and supported his 'wife' as she sat down.

"The blood bank is on the third floor. I'd take you there myself, but I'd rather keep close to your daughter."

"We understand." Gil answered

"Yes, I think that's the best for Lindsay." Catherine added

Gil then pushed Catherine down the hall to the elevator. When they got to the blood bank, there was not one person waiting, so Catherine and Gil got taken right away. They drew the blood right away, and had the results within ten minutes.

The nurse came out of lab and into the room where Gil and Catherine where still sitting.

"Mr. Willows," the nurse said, referring to Gil, "Your blood was a match to Lindsay's type."

"That's great."

"As for Ms. Willows' sample, we found something."

"What…what would that be?" Catherine implored

"Congratulations, you're pregnant!" the red-headed nurse exclaimed

  
  



	4. Part Four

The look on Catherine's face was very comparable tot hat of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming eighteen-wheeler. Grissom's mouth was hanging open, and a look of overall shock was in his face.

"It can't be… I'm not late or anything."

"The hormone that indicates pregnancy shows up in the blood as soon as the zygote is implanted. You are most likely only seven to ten days into your term."

Both Gil and Catherine flashed back to that day not two weeks ago. Grissom knew that this was his baby, and he was going to be a daddy. Yes, he was shocked, but nonetheless very happy. He was already in love with this unborn child.

"Now, Mr. Willows,"

"It's Mr. Grissom. She kept her maiden name after we were married." Gil interrupted, playing along to keep Catherine's story going.

"So, sorry Mr. Grissom."

"Quite all right." Then turning to Catherine he said, "It's going to be all right."

The nurse then took him to the room where they had just come from. Catherine, from where she was seated, could see Grissom. That was until the nurse pulled the curtain so that he was hidden from her view.

**A baby? We're going to have a baby? Deal with that later, but I am going to keep this child. Lindsay comes first now. She needs me, she needs me to be strong and there for her. Catherine get a grip, you need to deal. You can do this.**

For the second time in mere hours, the world became one big blur to Catherine. Her mind kept jumping from thing to thing, racing trying to figure it all out, to make some sense of it all. Lindsay, her darling angel, was in a coma; she was pregnant with her and Grissom's child. That New Years morning, Catherine was feeling very emotion that is under the sun. Guilt, remorse, shame, sadness, sorrow, as well as joy, glee, happiness, and peace were all going through her mind. Catherine was so worked up that she didn't even see her lover right in front of her.

"Cath… Cath, are you okay?" Grissom asked, interrupting her thoughts

"I don't know what I am."

"It's fine that you don't. Just hang in there with me, okay?"

"I will if you will."

" I will. Let's go back to Lindsay."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A few hours later, Catherine was sitting by Lindsay's side.

"Cath, do you want me to go and get anything? A change of clothes?"

"Thanks. Just a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt or something is fine. Oh. Can you get the rag doll that Lindsay loves to death? It's the one that you got her for her birthday last year. I think that it is sitting on her bed, propped up against her pillow."

"Of course, I think that she'd like it."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"I mean for everything."

"I know. I won't be long. Okay?"

"Okay."

With a kiss on her forehead, Gil was gone leaving mother and children alone. Catherine turned back to her daughter. The room dark since the blinds were drawn. Still here was enough light to see her watch. Seven in the morning; it seemed like forever ago since the car crash.

Catherine leaned down to her daughter and started stoking the smooth, golden locks. The ventilator, monitors, and the wind against the glass panes of the window created a soft song.

"I'm so sorry baby. You don't' deserve this. I wish that it was me in a coma, not you. Your going to be a big sister. How does that sound? As soon as you're better, we can go and pick out things for the baby's room. Won't that be nice? You can help Gil and I pick out a name. Please baby, you have to wake up! I need you, we all need you!"

Catherine laid her head down on the bed, and wept for her daughter. 


	5. Part Five

The days flowed into weeks, and it was now early March. Lindsay was still in her coma but was improving. She was off the ventilator now, and she had some physical responses. When someone squeezed her hand, she would, how ever very weakly, squeeze back. 

 Someone was always with her. Catherine's family had come from Montana, Nick, Sara, Warrick, and Greg all came after their shifts. Gil and Catherine were always there, keeping the vigil. The only time that Catherine would leave to go home for a few hours was when Gil or her mother was with Lindsay.

Catherine was starting to notice her belly getting rounder and knew that it wasn't going to be long before people would figure it out. No one knew except for Gil, and Lindsay, if she heard it. Catherine, in her heart, knew that Lindsay could hear her. She had already been thinking of names, and getting decorating ideas for the new nursery. However, she didn't want to do anything without Lindsay.

Gil was sitting by Lindsay when Catherine came in from going home to catch a few hours sleep.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, still really tired though."

"Was Lindsay like that?"

"Not as bad as this. Yet again, I was ten years younger when I was carrying her." 

 "Cath," Gil said, his voice in a whisper

"Yeah?"

"Is she mine?" Gil said, putting Lindsay's doll in her arms

"Of course the baby is yours! You think it's a girl?"

"I mean Lindsay."

"I know, I was trying to change the topic."

"Catherine, I need to know."

"It wasn't an issue before."

 "You're right. Ever since you told the nurse that I was her father, I've been thinking it over. I think I have the right to know if she is Eddie's or mine." 

Catherine looked down at her feet and started to cry. She never used to cry that much. In the past three months she has cried more than she had in the past three years. The fact that she was having a baby didn't help matters at all.

"I'm sorry Catherine." Gil said, getting up and embracing her

"No, no, you should know."

"Whenever you want to talk about it." 

 "Now is as good a time as any I guess."

"Okay then. Here why don't you sit down?"

Catherine sat on the edge of Lindsay's bed, Gil sitting on the chair that sat on two feet from the bed.

"I…I…don't know. As much as I want her to be yours I don't know. When Eddie and I where married, he had his way with me… a lot. The day that I figured she was conceived, you and I were together. When I got home, Eddie was drunk and wanted some, and he took it. There was no way for me to tell if she is his or yours."

"Catherine, I had no idea."

"In my heart of hearts though, I think that she's yours. She has so many little quirks that are you, and none that are Eddie's. I'm so sorry, Gil. I can't tell you if she is yours or not." 

"You have nothing to be sorry for. You did absolutely nothing. You are the victim here."

The little form next to Catherine started to move a bit. Catherine whipped her head around to see her daughter. All of a sudden Lindsay's eyelids fluttered open. A panicked look swept over her face for a moment.

"Mommy!" 

!! 


	6. Part Six

"Lindsay! Oh, I love you baby!"

A look of panic swept the face of the young girl as she looked around. Her eyes were darting from here to there, tying to make sense of it all. Gil had run out of the room to go and get the doctors.

"It's okay babe, you're going to be fine now. We're all going to be okay." Catherine said, tears starting to fall

Lindsay put her hand on her mother's, like she always did when her mom cried. It was a small gesture, but it made Catherine smile. Her baby was always looking out for her in her own little ways. 

The doctor came in and started to examine the child. 

"Hi, Lindsay."

Those two little words cause more panic to sweep over her face. Her eyes grew wide and seemed to be straining.

"What's wrong?" Dr. Edina asked 

She got no response from her patient, and that confirmed her fears. After checking her out, Dr. Edina took out a pad of paper and pencil and wrote something down:

_What's wrong?_

"I can't hear anyone…" Lindsay whispered

_Can you hear anything?_

"No…"

_Okay, sweetheart, that's okay._

"What happened?"

_You were in a car accident on New Year's. Do you remember anything?_

"No. What time is it?"

_It's March 7th honey._

"Have I been sleeping that long?"

Gil came back into the room and stood behind Catherine. He slowly put his hand on her left shoulder, but immediately put her hand on his, squeezing, holding on to the man that she loved. Every positive gem in her mind was starting to glimmer a little less as the doctor kept going.

_Yes. It's okay though. You were really sick, and your body needed to sleep for a really long time._

"Is mommy okay?" Lindsay asked, looking at her mother

The kindly doctor handed Catherine the paper and pencil.

_I'm fine, Lindsay. I have a surprise for you."_

"What, mommy?"

_You're going to be a big sister. How does that sound?_

The girl smiled and nodded her head in approval.

"Gil…?"

Catherine handed the paper and pencil to Gil so he could "talk" to Lindsay also.

_Hi, kiddo._

"Is mommy really okay?"

_Yes she is. We really missed you!_

"Sorry I made her cry. I don't like it when she cries."

_Those were good tears. Like at your birthday and you laughed so hard you cried. Remember that?_

"Yeah"

_Her crying was like that. She was so happy that you're awake and so am I!_

"Mr. Grissom, can I have the paper? I need to ask her some questions."

Catherine, who was already edgy due to Lindsay's coma and her pregnancy, became very annoyed at the doctor. She made her stance very evident by the daggers that accompanied the look she gave the woman. However, Gil, realizing that more the doctors knew, the better Lindsay would be. Giving the paper over, he was met with the same dagger laced gaze.

_Lindsay, does it hurt anywhere?_

"My head hurts."

_Okay, does it hurt anyplace else?_

"My ears."

_I'm going to give you some medicine to take it away. _

Lindsay nodded and started to shift around in the bed

_Do you want to sit up?_

"Yes."

_Okay, but you have to sit up really slow, like you're in slow motion._

Catherine reached over and hugged her daughter. Lindsay was too weak to hug back but she leaned into her mother's embrace. Catherine wanted to stay like that forever, protecting her daughter so that no more harm could come to her. However the doctor wanted to talk to both Gil and Catherine.

"I need to tell you that the fact that Lindsay can't hear anything is not a good sign. Her hearing might come back, but I can't guarantee anything. Little one's heal amazingly, but considering the damage that was done I think that she has already made great strides."

"Will she be okay?" Gil asked, very concerned

"We're doing all we can, but I can't promise a miracle. I'll tell you this though. She's a strong one."

** Just like her mother** Gil thought


	7. Part Seven

Gil, we really need to talk about... our baby" Catherine said getting her daughter's room ready for her return from the hospital

"What do you mean? Is the baby okay?" Gil replied, stopping changing the bed linens

A warm April breeze rushed though the open bay window as Catherine tried to find the right words to phrase her answer

"Cath..."

"Umm... why don't you sit down?"

Gil sat down on the newly sheeted bed, just as he was told to do.

"The baby is fine, for now."

"What does that mean, for now?" Grissom asked, panic coming into his voice

'"It means that we're going to have to be careful,"

Grissom furrowed his brow, trying to make sense of what she was telling him. His face also showed that his hearing was fading out, and he was straining to lip-read.

"It also means that I'm going to have to make arrangements at work. That means that everyone will know. They already knew that we're...involved, but this is will really be a shocker."

"Are you okay though?"

"I can't lie to you can I?"

"No, I always know when you're lying to me."

"Truth honestly is that I can go into labor anytime starting at the end of the month."

"But you can't! You're only five months!"

"Remember when I was pregnant with Lindsay? How I had her four weeks to soon?"

Gil nodded his head

"Well since I went early once and I'm older, the doctor figures that i might go any time from my sixth month on." Catherine said, now leaning into Gil's shoulders "But I promise you that I'm going to try everything in my power to carry out baby for as long as possible."

"I know you will. You're strong, you'll be strong."

"I envy your faith."

"Did you and Lindsay decide on a name?" Grissom said, trying desperately to change the topic

"Sort of. For a girl she wants Cassandra Rose so we can call her Cassie."

"I like that. Cassie Grissom, Cassie Willows. Both have a very nice ring to them."

"On the other hand, she wants Joel Andrew for a boy." Catherine said, making a bit of a face when she said the potential name

"What do you think about it?"

"Let's just put it this way; I'm not its biggest fan."

"What would have been Lindsay's name if she was a boy?"

"You're going to laugh at me!"

"No I won't."

"Craig Alexander."

"Craig Alexander Willows, Craig Alexander Grissom."

"He'd have that same initials you."

"Cassie would too." Gil pointed out

"So what is it?"

"How about Andrew Alexander?"

"Cassie or Andy. I like that." Catherine said

"Looks like it."

Gil grabbed a stuffed cat of Lindsay's and set it on her pillow. Catherine stared out the window, thinking about her two babies.

"I can't believe that she finally is coming home!" Catherine said after being unusually quiet

"It's been along time." Grissom agreed

"She was telling me how much she missed her own bed."

"What time are they discharging her?"

"Four"

"Well, we should get started again." Gil said, looking at his watch

Right as Catherine and Gil were about to get up and go into another cleaning frenzy, Catherine took Gil's hand and placed it on her stomach. She smiled when she saw Grissom's reaction to the movements that their baby was making. He then took her hand, put it to his lips, and then placed it on his heart.

"We're going to be okay Catherine." Gil said, his voice a little tighter than normal

"I know we will be. We always are..."

"I can't promise you that I can make everything better for you, make your life better, but there is one thing that I can promise you. That one thing is that I'll love you for the rest of my life. What I'm trying to say is...will you be my wife?"


	8. Part Eight GRAND FINALE!

Author's note: This is the end to this fic. I hope that you all enjoyed the story. A special thanks everyone for all their help and encouragement, you guys rock!

Disclaimer: I don't own the song that is at the end of this fic!

Catherine stood in the bride room that day, examining at her profile in the full-length mirror. She was wearing a pale yellow maternity dress that she had just bought in a little vintage shop the other week. Her sister, Lila, and done her hair up in a pretty bun with a bunch of three buttercups on the side and two wispy little curls framing her face. Although she often wore make-up, today Catherine did without. She wanted to be stripped down to what she really was. Her vintage dress showed her pregnancy nicely, her belly rather big now that she was in her eighth month. 

 Lindsay came up from behind her mother and gave her middle a hug. She was just able to touch her fingers together. Catherine patted her hand, and Lindsay swung around so that she could she her mother sign something to her also enjoying her first really fancy dress moving as she did. 

"Mom, you're really pretty." she said, her voice still not quite her own

Catherine signed 'thank you' and gave Lindsay a hug.

Sara came into the room to complete her duties as the 'unofficial' photographer for the wedding.

"Hey, Cath. You look…. Amazing." Sara said, seeing Catherine's face as she turned from the mirror.

"You really think so? I mean feel like the Titanic or something."

"Trust me, you look every inch the bride."

"Is everything just about ready?"

"Yeah, but I was wondering if you would like a few shots of just you and Lindsay together."

"How's Gil?"

"He's been trying to get his bowtie on right for the past half hour. Finally his thirteen year old cousin got it on."

"Great, well now I know that we're both going crazy."

Sara signed, "Lindsay, come over here please." All the while she was saying the words, she wanted as much as Gil and Catherine for her to lip-read.

Lindsay walked over to Sara as she was asked to. 

"Catherine, why don't you and Linds go over there, underneath the ribbon swag? Just goof around, make funny faces or whatever. The real deal will want you two all serious with poses and stuff."

Just as Catherine was going to twirl Lindsay, she bent over in pain, a loud moan escaping her lips.

"Catherine, Cath? What happened?" However when Sara looked down, she knew what had just occurred. Catherine's waters were all over the floor.

"Mom! Mom!"

Sara rushed over to the mother and daughter on the other side of the room. 

"Lindsay, go get Gil, okay? Tell him that the baby is coming. You got that?" Sara signed

"Yeah, I'll be right back!" 

With that, she was gone, running as fast as she could down the hall to find her soon to be stepfather. Catherine was now backed up against the wall, the fear wild in her eyes.  She knew that it was too soon, but there was no going back now. Sara ran over to the phone that was on the table in the far corner of the room and dialed 9-1-1.

"Catherine!" Grissom called as her saw her leaning up against the wall

"The baby…"

"It's okay, Cath. We're going to be fine. Sara is with 9-1-1…" he was saying, but then was cut off by yelp of pain from Catherine

"Gil…!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A thunderstorm was brewing as Catherine held little Cassie, now only hours old. Gil was sitting on the edge of the bed with Lindsay next to him.

"Mommy and Daddy and Lindsay love you! You're so prefect with your little toes and your little fingers. Aren't you, Miss Cassie Rose?"

"Baby Cassie let out a little cry, wanting to be fed.

"Gil, isn't she beautiful?"

"Yeah, she is. She has your eyes."

"She has your hair." Catherine said, smoothing the mop of unruly black hair

Lindsay leaned over and gave her baby sister a kiss on the head.

"Hey Cath, I'm going to go to the washroom." Gil said, moving from his post

"Go ahead, I think us girls can manage."

Gil walked out the door, and Lindsay moved closer into her mother.

Catherine shifted the baby to her other arm, and patted the empty space next to her. Lindsay took the opportunity to sit up with her mother and new sister. She then put her head on Catherine's shoulder. It was a nearly picture prefect scene except for that huge rolling wave of thunder that shook the bed….

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Catherine woke up with a start and immediately sat up. She threw the blanket that she had over herself off, and felt her stomach. It was the same as it always was. Slowing down her breathing a bit, she realized that it all was a dream. Catherine grabbed the robe that she had draped at the foot of her bed. Looking at the alarm clock it was nine thirty-eight in the morning. 

She got up out of bed and made her way to Lindsay's room. Opening the door every slowly, she saw her daughter's sleeping form. Her head was down at the edge of the bed, her feet resting on her pillow. Catherine walked over the chair the Nick had built for Lindsay and pulled the afghan off of it. She then placed it over her daughter. Making her way over to the bay window, she shut the blinds to keep the lightning out. Just as Catherine was about to leave the room, she gave Lindsay a kiss on the top her head.

"I love you Linds. Remember that, I will always love you no matter what."

_…A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep…_

**_THE END_**


End file.
